Monday, February 12, 2018

[SMART MOVE] Boneheads Has Closed on Powers Ferry Road

Boneheads has closed its location at The Shoppes of Powers Ferry on Powers Ferry Road not far from the Wildwood Office Park.  The restaurant, which reportedly closed within the past few days, was one the last few remaining Boneheads in business in metro Atlanta.  





Boneheads, which offered "fresh" seafood in a quick serve setting, was originally launched in 2006 by Moe's Southwest Grill creator Raving Brands.  The company attempted to replicate the success it had with Moe's to other cuisines, seafood and Asian (Mama Fu's Asian House) among them.  These attempts, and others like them, proved unsuccessful.  

Raving Brands, (now known as Big Game Brands), the restaurant's original owner, sold the concept to Ron Barber, then a franchisee of the brand, and his BH Acquisition, LLC, in late 2009.

Doc Green's, another failed Raving Brands concept, was once neighbors with Boneheads in The Shoppes, but closed in late 2016 , reopening last summer as Zeus Greek Street Food.  Moe's Southwest Grill continues to operate a location within the development.  

Despite materials on the Boneheads website heralding the concept as "#1 Fast Casual Seafood Brand with No National Competitors" "Voted One of the Top 100 Movers and Shakers in 2014" and "One of the Top 50 Brands of the year in 2014" the brand is now down to just three locations in Georgia, four overall.


The newest, and likely last Boneheads to open, debuted early last year at Camp Creek Marketplace in East Point.  The restaurant, which has a two star rating on Yelp.com, features a number of one star reviews with such comments as "Just NO....the food is awful..." and "This is the 3rd time I have been here and each time there has been a problem... 3 strikes YOUR OUT!!!!!"

Another location opened on Windward Parkway in Alpharetta in late 2014, but by mid-2016 had closed.  

Other former Boneheads locations were on Pharr Road in Buckhead, Chastain Square in Buckhead, Peachtree Battle in Buckhead, TOWN Brookhaven in Brookhaven and West Crossville Road in Roswell, among others.

Boneheads, which claims to be based in Smyrna, has locations at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Perimeter Place in Dunwoody, the aforementioned restaurant in East Point, and a lone out of state location in Pensacola, Florida.  

Captain D's by comparison, which is seen as a cheaper option to Bonehead's, recently opened in Acworth its 101st location in Georgia and 533rd overall.  The Nashville-based restaurant started in 1969 and has itself had a number of closures in its history, but is riding the wave of renewed interest in the brand and recently experienced six consecutive years of same-store sales growth.  

Are you surprised that Bonehead's closed on Powers Ferry?  What would you like to see open in place of Bonehead's on Powers Ferry?  Where is your favorite place for casual seafood in metro Atlanta?

Please share your thoughts below  

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Meat plus three concept!

jeff a. taylor said...

Thought it was a great concept undone by rent worries. This particular space could've been twice as big w 3X the parking, especially for the lunch crowd. But the tiny Moe's strip center footprint mindset didn't allow for that. It was damn sure 2 notches up on Capt D's in quality and at least one up on value. It will be missed. Now just go ahead and bulldoze it all and start over, because you know that is what cash strapped Cobb Co wants for anything near Bravesworld.

Anonymous said...

Yes meat plus three restaurant please! No more foo foo food! Traditional southern please!

Anonymous said...

Boneheads could never seem to figure out its identity. But I think calling Captain D's a competitor is a bit of a stretch. Boneheads offers a lot of healthier options including grilled zucchini as a side. Captain D's is fried fish planks, fried chicken, french fries and fried batter.

We used to go to the Perimeter location when it first opened. It was a pretty good meal. I'm not sure when they added burgers but that doesn't really fit their "healthy" and "peri peri chicken" monikers. They never had 7 types of fish on the menu either. They should probably choose one thing, do it well and go with it.

Carl said...

I'm Shocked, just SHOCKED!!!

Anonymous said...

The Boneheads by Perimeter mall has always been consistent. Not sure how they got it right, but all the other Boneheads locations did not. I eat there at least once a week, for the past 7 years.

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